Victory Golden Monkey

Today is a LAZY day in the Lost household. We did some grocery shopping, but that’s the extent of our motivation. Played about 4 hours of Tiger Woods golf on the PS3 this morning…very productive. About to watch the Bruins. For today’s episode of Silvio Saturday, Silvio reviews a beer that I thoroughly enjoy but have never reviewed! Silvio…

For nearly the entire time I’ve been guest reviewing on LIBA, I’ve done my beer shopping at one of those mega liquor stores because of it was the only place I could consistently find new beers to try. However, late last week I stumbled across a hidden treasure – the hole in the wall liquor store a half block from my office has a small, but ridiculously diverse beer selection.

Total bummer to discover this right before I switch jobs, but when I stopped by last night I was excited to find Victory Brewing Company’s Golden Monkey. I’ve had this on tap a few times and loved it, but haven’t really seen it in bottles. Done and done.

The Golden Monkey is a Belgian-style spiced tripel ale, which is apparent at once after the pour. The aroma of bananas, clove, orange and other spices are unmistakable and quite strong. It’s really carbonated, with tons of tiny bubbles, a two-finger foam head, and just a touch of cinnamon-colored foam on the crown. I noticed a fair amount of sediment floating around in the beer, and it’s a cloudy golden color. Of note, the bottled version is much clearer than the tap version, which looks pretty much unfiltered.

Taste-wise, this isn’t your average spiced ale. It definitely starts out the way you’d expect from the aroma, with a lot of bananas and clove spiciness, but it transitions into a strong hoppy IPA flavor on the end. While I’m a huge fan of IPAs, the end note is just a bit too bitter for me. However, this is a really well-balanced mix of spicy and hoppy and it’s quite drinkable.

While the taste is distinctive, the most remarkable aspect of this beer is how strong it is. It’s labeled with a 9.5% ABV, and you definitely taste the alcohol while drinking, but it affects you even stronger than that. I’ve had several of these beers twice now, and both times I’ve passed out on the couch, simply hammered. I don’t know if it’s the mix of Belgian and IPA, but you need to bring it when you drink these beers because the Golden Monkey will likely kick your ass.